Rozner: With October in the air, Cubs lose tough one

By just about any measure, the playoffs began at Wrigley Field Thursday night.

No, the first pitch ritual did not require a Hall of Famer. Missing was the royal bunting. And it didn't snow.

Decorations and distractions aside, it had all the feels of October baseball, including Anthony Rizzo leaping off the trainer's table and doing his best Willis Reed impression, and a wild Cubs rally in the ninth to tie the game and send it to extras.

Add it all up, however, and it amounted to a crushing defeat for the home team.

"You want to look around, take in the vibe and make an impact so you can get to October," said the Cubs' Jason Heyward, whose ground ball tied the game at 4-4 in the ninth. "It's an honor to play in these games this time of year. Lot of teams not playing for anything."

With 10 games remaining to begin the night and still anything possible, from winning the division to missing the playoffs - and so much in between, including the potential for Games 163 and 164 again - it was as serious as it gets for a regular season series, the first-place Cardinals in town and the Cubs with a chance to chase them down.

For nearly everyone involved, the magic of a baseball playoff race overshadowed all else, from a mediocre Cubs season to bullpen nightmares and incessant rumors about who will return and who will depart, minus ceremony, naturally.

Even for the potential vanished and the otherwise vanquished, the pressure and intensity of playoff baseball erased from mind all concern for the offseason uncertainty.

And in the true spirit of October, Rizzo inserted himself into the starting lineup only 30 minutes before the game, getting off the mat four days after what appeared to be a season-ending ankle injury.

"Pretty tough guy. Anybody that's ever had a sprained ankle, you know what that feels like," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon of his 240-pound first baseman. "Plus, he's carrying a lot of Rizzo with him so it makes it even more difficult."

The huge crowd got a big boost seeing Rizzo hobble out to his position, but struggling to move in the field, he cost the Cubs a run in the top of the third when he could not race in to field a bunt the way the two-time Gold Glover normally would.

"We have to make an adjustment there," Maddon said. "We talked right after that and obviously he's not able to make that maneuver right now."

But Rizzo got that run right back in the bottom of the inning with a first-pitch, two-out, opposite-field shot (No. 27) to tie the game at 1-1.

Makes it easy when you can jog around the bases.

"I was really impressed with him," Maddon said. "Come out and hit a home run like that, pretty impressive day for him."

The Cards got another in the fifth off Kyle Hendricks and 2 more in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead, sending Hendricks to the showers after 95 pitches.

St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty went 8 strong (118 pitches), but Carlos Martinez had nothing but trouble with a scrappy Cubs lineup in the ninth, when the Cubs scored 3 to tie it and nearly won the game when Nico Hoerner crushed a ball to center for an out that ended the inning.

The tie didn't last long as Craig Kimbrel, just activated off the injury list, served up a one-out homer to Matt Carpenter in the top of the 10th inning and the Cubs were left to lick their wounds after a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th.

"Really proud of the guys, the way we came back at the end," Maddon said. "Overall, love the fight."

St. Louis' 5-4 victory knocked the Cubs 4 games back in the division and a game behind the Brewers for the second wild card.

There's three more big games with St. Louis this weekend as the Cubs wrap the 2019 home schedule, knowing the opportunity is still right in front of them.

The loss Thursday night isn't a death blow, but it obviously took some steam out of the division possibilities, if not the wild card race.

The Cubs are 9-9 in September, an appropriate record for their average play, when not beating up on the hapless Pirates.

They have to get it going. Now.